It's Always Been You
by Yuri-hime
Summary: Rei has to take charge when Minako manages to get herself in trouble...as usual
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer** - I do not own the characters of Sailor Moon. They are owned by the wonderful _Naoko Takeuchi_

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><p><strong>~It's Always Been You~<strong>

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><p>Minako stumbled in through the open door of Rei's shrine bedroom, which caused the dark-haired miko to leap to her feet immediately from her bed, and rush over to the golden-haired warrior's side.<p>

Minako was clutching her side tightly, and Rei could see blood begin to seep from what must obviously be a bad wound.

"Come on, lay down on my bed _now_," Rei said in a voice tight with worry, as she gently helped ease the softly-whimpering senshi down onto her clean white sheets. Rei then quickly dashed into her bathroom, and came back out with the med kit she always kept stashed there. The life of a sailor senshi meant that one _always_ had to be ready for emergencies like this.

Rei hurriedly knelt by Minako's side, and carefully lifted her golden-haired friend's shirt from her body. The wound that Rei saw caused the raven-haired girl to suck in a quick breath, and then curse lightly under her breath. Deep claw marks had marred the perfect smooth skin of Minako's side, and the blood was still oozing down Minako's side and staining Rei's sheets.

"I'm...I'm sorry about your sheets...Rei," Minako said haltingly, as she turned her head to give Rei a pain-filled grimace of a smile. "I zigged when I shoulda zagged, and got clipped in the side by this monster I figured I could take on my own."

Rei didn't say anything in reply as she went about first cleaning the wound, and then bandaging it up. When she was done she wiped Minako's side clean of all the blood with an alcohol-soaked cloth, and then sat quietly staring down at her best friend.

"That was possibly the _stupidest_ decision you could have made," Rei finally said in a voice tight with some emotion Minako couldn't readily identify.

Minako shifted uncomfortably as she turned her head to avoid Rei's unwavering gaze, and hissed softly in pain as her movement caused the wounds in her side to stretch. Rei laid a hand on Minako's shoulder to make the golden-haired girl stay still, and then she let out a deep weary sigh.

"Promise me Minako, that you will _never_ do something that boneheaded and stupid again. I couldn't take it if something...happened to you," Rei continued in a soft voice, swallowing around the lump that had formed around her throat when she'd first seen Minako's injury.

Minako turned wide, bright blue eyes towards Rei and nodded her head in ready agreement.

Rei nodded her head in satisfaction before she slowly rose to her feet. She then leaned forward and helped Minako to sit up on the bed.

"Sorry about your sheets again, Rei," Minako said with a small, shy smile as she glanced down at the blood-soaked sheets. "I'll make sure to get you a new set of sheets when I get home. My parents are...still out of town...so it'll be no problem to grab a new set and bring it back to you," Minako said in a quiet voice, as she began idly picking at a clean section of Rei's sheet.

Rei let a soft sigh before she reached forward, slipped her long fingers under Minako's chin, and gently tilted the blond's head upward. Minako's sky-blue eyes widened and her lips fell open slightly, as Rei leaned down and looked deeply into her eyes. The two of them stayed that way for seconds that seemed like hours to Minako, until with a nod to herself Rei let go of her chin, and leaned back to gaze down at the blond with her arms crossed over her chest.

Minako slipped out her tongue to lick suddenly dry lips, as she took in a deep breath and slowly released it to try to calm her racing heart.

For a heartbeat or two there, Minako had _honestly_ thought Rei was going to kiss her, and the thought of her miko friend actually doing that sent a pleasant tingle through her body, and completely overshadowed the pain in her side for a few precious moments.

"You're going to stay here with me," Rei said with sudden decisiveness, as she continued to gaze down at the blond sitting on her bed. When Minako looked back up at her with an adorably confused expression on her face Rei continued.

"Your parents aren't home, and I could see just how much that injury in your side took out of you when I checked your eyes just now. Senshi healing will take care of your wound by morning, but in the meantime you need somewhere safe and comfortable to rest. You hang out here enough anyways that it's practically your second home so I...I don't mind if you...stay here with me tonight," Rei finished as a light blush stained her cheeks, while she did her best to look anywhere _but_ at the blond before her.

A beautiful, breathtaking smile spread across Minako's face, and Rei coughed lightly as her face reddened further at the sight of that smile.

_Kami, but she's beautiful even when she's been man-handled...or rather **monster**-handled...and that beast is **damn lucky** that I wasn't there at the time it hurt her, or I would have made it hurt a thousand times worse before I fried it,_ Rei thought angrily to herself, as she set about gently easing Minako from the bed so that the bedsheets could be changed. She made Minako sit in the only chair in the room; a nice sturdy wooden chair the monks had given to her many years before.

Minako sat down gingerly in the chair, and watched quietly as Rei went about quickly changing the sheets. Her side continued to ache but she knew that that was just her senshi healing kicking in, and she would continue to feel the discomfort of her wounds healing for the rest of the night.

Minako let out a soft, tired sigh and leaned her head back against the chair, and allowed her eyelids to close slowly. Her head now hurt as well, and her tummy was tying itself in knots with hunger. Healing used up a lot of the body's reserves, plus she'd expended a lot of energy to try to take down that monster that had attacked her.

A light shake on her shoulder made her snap her eyes open with a small start, as she hadn't realized that she'd fallen asleep. Rei was smiling down softly at her, and telling her that a bath had been drawn for her, and that she should take a quick soak before she ate something and went to bed.

Minako could only nod drowsily which caused Rei to frown slightly, and her dark-haired friend raised her hand to place it gently against her aching forehead.

"Damn, that beast's claws must have caused an infection because you're burning up, Minako," Rei said in a voice filled with worry, and Minako could only stare forward numbly as Rei gently helped her to her feet. She almost stumbled and fell as she tried to stand on suddenly wobbly legs, but Rei stood steadily by her side helping to hold her up.

The next couple of hours passed by in small, jagged fragments for Minako. She vaguely remembered being lowered into a bath's warm water, and gentle caring hands softly wiping her skin clean. She then remembered being dressed in soft, fuzzy pajamas and vaguely remembered that they were _her_ pajamas that she had left here at Rei's place, the last time she had 'invited' herself over for an impromptu sleepover.

The next thing she remembered after that was Rei laying her back down gently onto the bed, and helping her to sit propped up against the headboard so that she could drink some hot soup that Rei had made. Minako remembered getting about half of the bowl of soup down, before she'd shivered lightly and dropped down further into the bed to wrap her suddenly cold body tightly into the sheets.

Her next memory was of now, as she woke up with a sudden start to find herself still on the bed, the light of the moon shining through Rei's one bedroom window, and the sheets still wrapped tightly around her body...except...the sheet wasn't the only thing now wrapped snugly and tightly around her.

Minako held her breath as she moved her body slightly, and felt an arm tighten protectively around her waist, and a soft mutter about going back to sleep whispered lightly into her ear from behind. Minako didn't think that Rei herself was actually awake as she was absolutely, positively _sure_ her best friend would _not_ have remained wrapped so snugly around her if she had been fully awake.

Minako let out a soft sigh of pleasure and decided to do _exactly_ as Rei suggested, and closed her eyes to drift back into this blissful comfort of sleep wrapped up warmly in Rei's arms. And as she allowed her eyes to close and a peacefully content smile to cross her face, unseen to her a similar smile graced Rei's lips.

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><p><em>To be continued~?<br>_

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><p>Hope you all enjoyed~ Please review ^.^<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Minako slowly awoke the next morning with a light stretch and jaw-cracking yawn.

The sun's warm light was streaming in through Rei's window, and Minako realized she was still wrapped up in a cocoon of warm blanket and Rei's arm held snuggly around her waist. Which actually surprised Minako a bit, because Rei was an early riser and she had fully expected Rei to already be up and about, and not still laying here in bed with her.

But Minako was _not_ going to complain about this unexpected development. So she closed her eyes with a contented sigh, and snuggled back down into the warm cocoon made of her body, Rei's, and the blanket.

The next time Minako opened her eyes though, she saw with some disappointment that she was now alone in the bed. She had pretty much expected that Rei would finally have risen by the time she woke again, but she had still hoped that the dark-haired miko would have stayed wrapped up in the sheets with her. As unrealistic as that hope was.

Minako only had time to pout for about a minute though about her snuggly Rei-pillow being gone, before Rei's bedroom door opened and the miko herself entered the room with a tray held carefully in her hands.

Minako's sky-blue eyes lit up when she saw her best friend return, and a brilliant smile lit up her face as she watched Rei come closer with the tray, that Minako could see held a plate of breakfast and a tall glass of orange juice.

Rei's steps faltered slightly when she saw the brilliant smile being directed towards her, and she had to clear her throat slightly before she continued to Minako's side, and gently placed the tray down on the dresser beside the bed.

"How are you feeling this morning, Minako? You're colouring is looking better than it did last night, and you seem to have regained most of your energy," Rei said softly as she raised her hand to lightly brush through the blond bangs across Minako's forehead, to check to see if the golden senshi's temperature had gone down. Minako's skin was mostly cool to the touch, though Rei could still feel a slight bit of warmth present, but looking at Minako now Rei figured her golden-haired friend would be fully recovered in a few hours.

Minako allowed her eyes to close at the soft, gentle touch of Rei's hand against her forehead, and she couldn't help the soft sigh of pleasure that escaped her lips.

Rei blushed lightly as she listened to the soft sound of pleasure slip passed Minako's lips, while the blue-eyed senshi's eyes remained closed in obvious pleasure. Rei continued to lightly brush her fingers through Minako's golden bangs, enjoying the soft feeling of Minako's skin beneath her fingers, and the silken strands brushing lightly through her fingers. Then with a soft sigh of her own, Rei finally made herself step back from Minako, and turn towards the breakfast tray to pick up the glass of orange juice.

Minako felt the loss of Rei's fingers from her skin, and she opened her cerulean eyes with a small pout on her lips. She had _really_ been enjoying Rei's cool touch against her still slightly-warm skin, and the keen loss of that touch made her want to reach out, grasp Rei's hand, and pull it back to nuzzle against her cheek. But she wasn't sure how Rei would react to _that_ so she just decided to look up at the miko, who now stood before her with a cold glass of orange juice held out before her.

"Here Mina, drink some of this and take these two pills with it," Rei said, as she held out her hand to deposit two pills she taken from the tray into Minako's hand. "They will help with any lingering affects of the infection the monster gave you last night, though they'll also make you feel pretty drowsy," Rei finished saying, as she gently laid the pills down onto Minako's outstretched palm.

Minako nodded as she took the pills, then also took the glass of juice and drank some after she swallowed the pills. Rei gently took the half-empty glass back from her, and when their fingertips brushed together a small tingle of pleasure shot through both their bodies at the contact. Rei swallowed slightly at the sudden feeling of desire that curled up in the pit of her stomach, and made its way up through her body and into her throat. She had always enjoyed the feeling and simple touches of Minako's skin against hers, and it was getting increasingly difficult to cover up her body's responses to Minako's.

Though the fact that she could have lost her best friend last night to of all things a stray monster attack, made it _crystal-clear_ to Rei that if she had lost her best friend, she would have also lost any chance to show her how she truly felt about her. The thought that she would never again see Minako's sparkling-blue eyes or the laughing, happy smile the golden senshi seemed to bestow on her and her only, made the blood run cold in Rei's body.

But _how_ could she tell Minako how she felt about her, and also keep the comfortable warmth of their friendship. She didn't want to make Minako uncomfortable being around her, if she told the golden senshi about her feelings and Minako reacted badly to it. Though Rei gave Minako a _lot_ of credit to not react too badly as she _was_ the Senshi of Love, and that meant love in **all** forms. Rei honestly didn't believe that Minako really would shun her, or suddenly not want to be around her anymore because she found out that Rei liked her 'in that way'. But still...Rei didn't want to 'rock the boat' as the saying went. She and Minako were the best of friends, and had a truly unique and wonderful friendship. Though the monster attack had made Rei question her decision to never let Minako know how she truly felt about her, she wasn't quite _there_ yet in deciding to let that particular cat out of the bag.

She just needed _something_ to show her that Minako wouldn't be uncomfortable around her if she revealed her true feelings. And honestly...with the way that Minako had been acting all cuddly with her, and sighing blissfully whenever Rei touched her since last night, Rei was getting a sneaking suspicion that Minako wouldn't just be _okay_ with Rei's feelings...she may actually _like_ them.

Rei decided to put this suspicion to the test.

After Minako had obediently taken her medication from Rei, she'd reached out and placed the breakfast tray on her lap, so that she could eat the light meal that Rei had prepared for her. It warmed Minako's heart to see and experience all the little things Rei did for her to show how much she cared. It made Minako feel special, and she sighed happily as she took a small bite of her meal and began chewing with pleasure. She was startled slightly when Rei took a seat on the edge of the bed beside her, took the fork from her hand to pick up a bit of scrambled eggs, and then raise the fork back up to her lips. Minako quirked an eyebrow at Rei who only gave her a small grin in return, and lightly bobbed the fork at her lips as if to say, "open wide."

Minako's cerulean-blue eyes sparkled with mirth, as she parted her lips to let Rei bring the food into her mouth. The two of them then spent the next ten minutes quietly engaged in the act of feeding and being fed to. It was peaceful and comforting, and Minako began feeling a quiet lassitude settle over her from the effects of the medication, and having a full stomach. Being fed to and cared for so thoroughly by Rei also added to this feeling of sleepy contentment, and Minako's eyes began to slowly droop downwards, as sleep began taking a firmer hold on her body. Seeing that Minako was already more than half-asleep, Rei lightly put the fork down onto the mostly empty plate, and gently removed the tray from Minako's lap.

Then hesitating for only a brief second, Rei leaned forward and gently brushed her lips across Minako's forehead.

Minako's eyes snapped open at the gentle touch against her skin, and her eyes focused in on Rei's violet eyes which were swirling with an undefined emotion.

The air between their faces fairly trembled with energy, and Minako found herself suddenly short of breath. This moment was reminding her of the night before, when Rei had leaned in close to her face, almost as if she were going to kiss her. But unlike last night Rei didn't lean back, and in fact the miko must have seen something in Minako's eyes, because she raised her hand and spread her fingers gently across Minako's cheek. A soft sigh of pleasure once again escaped Minako's lips as she leaned her face into Rei's palm, while her eyes fluttered closed at the warm touch.

Minako's reaction to her touch must have settled something in Rei's mind, because the next touch that Minako felt was a soft, tender press of lips against her own.

Minako let out a soft gasp which opened her lips, and a brief taste of tongue pressed against the inside of her lips. A low moan slipped passed Minako's throat, and Rei finally pulled back enough to look down at her best friend, who's eyes were slowly fluttering back open.

Minako looked up at Rei with a half-dazed expression on her face, and then breathed out a single word.

"Wow..."

Rei let out a small chuckle, even as a light blush coloured her cheeks. She then gently stroked her thumb across Minako's cheek, which just caused the love senshi to purr like a contented kitty, and nuzzle her face into Rei's palm.

Rei let out a soft, pleased laugh as she leaned down and gently brushed her lips across Minako's once more.

"I could get very addicted very quickly to the taste of your lips," Rei husked out against the slight trembling of Minako's mouth.

Minako sucked in a deep breath, and released it in a soft puff of air that played across Rei's lips. Just the sound and timber of Rei's voice as it vibrated against her lips, was causing all kinds of delicious sensations to run rampant throughout her body.

"I've wanted to do that with you...for _so_ long," Rei continued as she lowered her head further, and nuzzled her face gently against Minako's neck.

Minako's eyes slowly closed again, as she raised her hands and threaded them through Rei's soft, silken strands to keep the miko pressed up close against her.

"And what took you so long to do so?" Minako asked in reply, as she pressed her lips against Rei's ear and softly kissed it. A light shiver ran through Rei's body, and the miko repaid the touch by pressing a shuddering kiss to Minako's collarbone. Minako's grip on Rei's hair tightened, as a soft low moan once again passed through her lips.

Rei pressed one more tender kiss against Minako's neck, before she forced herself to move back so that she could look down into Minako's beautiful, azure eyes when she spoke. Minako slowly reopened her eyes but kept her hands on Rei, only lowering them from the miko's hair to her cheeks, so that she could gently cradle Rei's face in the palms of her hands.

"I was scared and worried that you...that our friendship might change if I ever told you how I really felt about you. And that it wouldn't really change for the better. I know _I know_, you're the Senshi of Love and so my feelings really shouldn't have affected our friendship adversely. But still...the heart can be scared of things that may hurt it, and I guess I was just too afraid to take the risk. But then something scared my heart even _worse_, and I decided that I couldn't take the chance of never letting you know how I truly felt," Rei said with such heartfelt conviction, that Minako felt her own heart swoon with the feelings that Rei's confession caused to wash through her.

"You goof," Minako replied with a tender, affectionate smile. "You should have just told me, as you said I _am_ the Senshi of Love. Not only would your feelings for me _not_ have affected our friendship badly...I would have happily reciprocated them," Minako said with a shy smile for her favourite person in the whole world.

The bright, stunning smile that lit up Rei's face at Minako's words, caused the love senshi's breath to catch and she immediately _had_ to pull Rei's face back down to hers, so that she could capture that beautiful smile with her lips.

Rei happily leaned back down and returned the kiss, as she made a promise with her heart to never _ever_ let Minako go, and to _always_ stand by her side to keep her safe and protected.

_For all time_

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><p>Really hope you all enjoyed~ Please review and let me know what your thoughts are on this story~ =3<p> 


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